PUTRAJAYA, March 14 (Bernama) -- The government has decided to ban the polycarbonate feeding bottle containing the organic compound Bisphenol A or BPA from March 1 next year, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said.

He said the cabinet decided at its meeting on March 2 to adopt the precautionary measure because there was no sound scientific proof that the feeding bottle was safe for use by infants and children.

"The ministry will not compromise on the safety of consumers, more so infants and children," he told reporters after chairing a post-cabinet meeting, here Monday.

Liow said it had been learnt that BPA could cause disruption to the hormonal system and consequently interrupt bodily functions, but added that so far no evaluation had been done on the hormonal system in infants.

He also said that the government was giving the industry a one-year period to wind down the manufacture of the BPA-containing polycarbonate feeding bottles.

Polycarbonate plastic was used in the manufacture of feeding bottles and BPA helped to make the bottles hard and transparent, he said.

He said the ban was consistent with that imposed by several countries, among them Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany and New Zealand.

"The latest development is the announcement of a ban of the feeding bottle by the European Union," he said.

Liow said that up to last year, 159 samples of the feeding bottle were analysed and BPA migration of zero to 0.7 mg/kg was detected in 85 per cent of the bottles.

A study by Universiti Malaya showed that the migration rate rose seven-fold at 80 degrees Celsius compared to room temperature of 25 degrees, he said.

The minister advised consumers to adopt precautionary measures to reduce the risk of exposure to the BPA migration by adhering to the ministry's guidelines on the use of the feeding bottle.

Liow also advised consumers to switch to another type of feeding bottle.

He also said that they should look for the identification code at the bottom of feeding bottles to determine whether they were of polycarbonate before making a purchase.

Consumers can direct enquiries to the Food Safety and Quality Division of the ministry at 03-8883 3652 / 8883 3653 / 8883 3655 or surf the http:moh.gov.my/ or http://fsq.moh.gov.my websites for information.